I wish I'd been at the November 29 meeting of Legislative District 25 Republicans for the election of new officers and state committee-persons. All the haters were there, and the haters had their asses handed to them when their pro-hater slate, for the most part, went down in flames.

Which is the main reason Maricopa County Republican Party Chairman Rob "Wild Man" Haney has now invalidated that election (with the assistance of his cronies).

This, following the spectacle of Haney's melt-down the evening of the LD 25 election, wherein, according to several sources, he claimed "fraud" was afoot and threatened to sic Sheriff Joe Arpaio on all the RiNOs (i.e., non-crazy GOPers) he believed responsible.

Indeed, this past Sunday, after an "investigation" into five, supposedly forged nominating questionnaires, wherein people self-nominate themselves for the GOP state committee, Haney and his committee of Sherlocks issued a statement to LD 25 PCs, informing them that "enough irregularities existed to invalidate the election," and that a full-on witch hunt will now commence.

"[T]he Committee found enough suspicious activity to involve law enforcement," the message states. "The County Attorney was contacted, and per his recommendation, the evidence found by the Committee will be turned over to the appropriate law enforcement agency for further investigation."

I'm told that more than 150 state committee slots are at stake. These state committee persons will get to vote at the Republican state committee meeting in January, where the party's statewide leadership will be chosen.

Thing is, the five persons who did not want their names on the ballot were taken off the ballot that night by Haney, who ordered new ballots printed as his fellow Rs cooled their heels, or left in disgust because of this intemperate idgit's insanity.

The election of officers had already occurred. The anti-Pearce faction took a solid majority of the state committee positions after casting their Haney-sanitized ballots. But Haney and his fellow crazies apparently want another bite at the apple.

Heck, even the interim LD 25 chair Haydee Dawson, a Pearce loyalist, stated in an e-mail to her fellow Rs her belief that the vote was valid.

"I do not believe that at any point voter fraud was perpetrated," Dawson wrote. "We had 408 out 453 PC present or by Proxy the night of the election. It is my firm belief that if voter fraud was being committed chairman Haney would have demanded that election be stopped immediately instead of requesting new ballots to be printed without the names of those individuals who stated they were on the ballot without their knowledge.

"Were voter fraud a really the case that should have been what happened instead of proceeding with the election as scheduled. Since that did not happen, it was a surprise to me when I was told the following day that the results of the election were likely to be invalidated."

Why should you care about this Republi-nut rigmarole and Haney's rule-bending antics?

Well, because I'm hearing rumors that two-time-loser, recalled former state Senate President Russell Pearce is gathering his forces, preparing for a revenge campaign for chair of the Arizona Republican Party.

And if that happens, we're all affected by Pearce having any sort of bully pulpit, from which, you can bet, he will bully folks. Because that and lying are two things the Mesa muttonhead does without thinking.

But even if Pearce doesn't make a bid, it's important that Pearce and his ilk continue to lose, over and over again, until they are driven into the hateful dust from whence they sprang.

A new vote has yet to be scheduled. Nor have the ground rules been set.

The latter is important, as, according to LD 25-ers I've talked to, Pearce didn't submit a nominating questionnaire, as required. And if the new vote adheres to the bylaws of LD 25, then it's too late for Pearce to get his name on the ballot. Save, perhaps, as a write-in.

If Pearce is not elected to the state committee, he cannot run for party chair, or even for re-election to his current post, First Vice Chair.

Perhaps knowing this, Mesa attorney Brent Ellsworth sent Haney a letter last week, asking that the election be thrown out. Ellsworth, who was elected an LD 25 officer on November 29, complained that Haney had cast a pall over the entire election.

He also noted that there were several others who should not be on the ballot because they either: stated on their questionnaires that they did not want to be state committee candidates, or had not indicated their intentions one way or another.

Ellsworth's letter has earned him the enmity of Haney and the pro-Pearce faction. In a recent e-mail to Haney, Ellsworth related how Haney booted Ellsworth from a meeting of Haney's geriatric G-men (and G-women) over at the state GOP's headquarters.

He wrote, in part:

When one of the participants introduced me to a new arrival as"Brent Ellsworth," and you heard my name, you immediately reacted, and in an agitated state, turned and demanded I leave and asked why I was there.

I responded that I was present at the request of my district chairman, Paul Whetten. Before I could provide any additional explanation, you again commanded me to leave, saying, "This is my investigation and I invited specific people to participate and no one else is allowed in."

You then turned, ignoring me, and continued rearranging the room.

I responded, "May I ask a question?" You replied, "You're not allowed to be here. I know what you're doing. You're just trying to tie me up with all your lawyer-like stuff. If you want to ask me a question, send me an e-mail."

At that point, I left the meeting before it even began.

Hi-larious. Haney's temper rivals that of my videographer pal Dennis Gilman, who actually went to the meeting on the 29th as an observer, but was so bored by the proceedings that he left before the really good stuff happened.

Folks are telling me that the fix is in, that Haney has ordered the current LD 25 leadership to ignore the bylaws and make sure Pearce can put his name on the ballot.

"It's like these guys want amnesty," cracked LD 25 GOPer Tyler Montague, a member of the non-crazy faction. "They don't want to follow the by-law."

Another one looking for amnesty is Pearce's hotheaded ex-Justice of the Pearce bro Lester, who is also a big loser, having loaned himself $100,000 to run for the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, only to be handily beaten in the GOP primary by now Supervisor-elect Steve Chucri.

Seems Lester, who was elected to the state committee on the 29th, also didn't submit a nominating questionnaire, according to some.

Interestingly, Lester was overheard complaining loudly and frequently that some present at the meeting had "ruined his life" because they had cooperated with the Arizona Commission on Judicial Conduct, which recently fined Lester $1,500 and censured him for violating ethics rules by campaigning for Russell during the historic 2011 recall election. This, while Lester was still a JP.

Actually, Lester, I'll take a little credit for ruining your life by reporting on your unethical conduct. Same for your brother's loss in 2011, and his defeat in this year's LD 25 primary by nice-guy businessman Bob Worsley.

BTW, this isn't the first time Haney has saved Russell from humiliation. It also happened in 2010, when Pearce didn't make the state committee, and Haney slavishly ordered a new election. Pearce just barely made it in.

Even if he is on the new ballot, there's still a possibility he could lose, if the anti-Pearce team makes an all-out effort.

That would be the ideal situation for me, because I could then refer to Pearce as a three time loser.

(PS: I have no idea if Haney is Irish, but the mean ol' cuss sure looks like a leprechaun.)

At no point during the reorganization of LD25 did I take sides in order to see who would be the next board and state committeemen. At no point was there any favoritism given to one slate over the other. When I ran for the interim chairmanship, I did so knowing how deeply divided the district was. It was my intention to unite us as one LD that could become not only the largest LD, but the most influential LD. During my time as your chairwoman, I believe that I treated everyone equally and that I addressed all reasonable concerns in a timely and respectful manner. As promised in my campaign, I allowed everyone to have a fair and equal voice and I feel that this has helped to bring more of the district together as republicans than we have been in the past. I sincerely hope this spirit will continue on in the future regardless of who is on the board. Sadly the nominations for State Committeemen have brought forward questions and two days prior to the election I was approached by a precinct captain who believed that 5 of her precinct PCs had been nominated to be SC without their knowledge. I addressed her concerns about those members and promptly removed those 5 PCs from the ballot. The night of the election chairman Haney addressed our LD and informed us of a possible voter fraud. I do not believe that at any point voter fraud was perpetrated. We had 408 out 453 PC present or by Proxy the night of the election. It is my firm belief that if voter fraud was being committed chairman Haney would have demanded that election be stopped immediately instead of requesting new ballots to be printed without the names of those individuals who stated they were on the ballot without their knowledge. Were voter fraud a really the case that should have been what happened instead of proceeding with the election as scheduled. Since that did not happen, it was a surprise to me when I was told the following day that the results of the election were likely to be invalidated. At this point due to my health issues I can no longer be part of the investigative process, all documents were given to chairman Haney and electronic copies were made available via drop box. Again I have shared these documents in the belief that transparency is always best. It saddens me to know that my integrity is being questioned, when all I tried to do was ensure everyone in our LD had voice regardless of political "tribe". Haydee Dawson

Chairman Haney - You recently invited LD25 chairman, Paul Whetten, to participate on what you refer to as "the investigating team of the LD 25 reorganization election."

Chairman Whetten invited me, as an officer of LD25, to attend with him so that if he was unable to attend all of your sessions, I could participate in his place.

I appeared at the AZ GOP HQ in Phoenix this morning just prior to 9 a.m., as requested. As other members of the team arrived, we were milling around waiting for your arrival and further instructions. When you arrived, you made cursory greetings to a few and walked past me and the others who were there and asked Paul Whetten if he would assist you in rearranging the chairs and tables, which he did.

When one of the participants introduced me to a new arrival as"Brent Ellsworth," and you heard my name, you immediately reacted, and in an agitated state, turned and demanded I leave and asked why I was there. I responded that I was present at the request of my district chairman, Paul Whetten. Before I could provide any additional explanation, you again commanded me to leave, saying, "This is my investigation and I invited specific people to participate and no one else is allowed in."

You then turned, ignoring me, and continued rearranging the room.

I responded, "May I ask a question?" You replied, "You're not allowed to be here. I know what you're doing. You're just trying to tie me up with all your lawyer-like stuff. If you want to ask me a question, send me an e-mail."

At that point, I left the meeting before it even began.

Are you denying Chairman Whetten the courtesy of allowing any member of his board to attend with him, or are you just singling me out because of the challenge I sent you yesterday?

On November 29th, 2012, LD-25 held the statutory meeting to elect new Board Members, State Committeemen and amend the bylaws. Prior to the meeting, 5 PCs certified by notarized Affidavit that the signatures which placed them on the ballot for State Committeeman were not their signatures. To correct this issue, these names were removed from the ballot; however, that required that the ballots be reprinted the day of election which delayed the vote on State Committeemen until late in the meeting.

The irregularity of this issue resulted in a complaint being filed with the Maricopa County Republican Committee (MCRC). Once the complaint was filed, the LD-25 Board requested the attendance of the MCRC to provide a presence to oversee the meeting, and the Chairman of MCRC, Rob Haney, did attend the meeting. During the meeting, the MCRC Chairman requested that any additional individuals whose names were added to the State Committeeman ballot without their authorization identify themselves to insure that all the irregularities were dealt with prior to the election.

During the election, numerous individuals came forward and indicated they had not authorized their names to be on the ballot but their names were on the ballot. As a result of this new information, on Friday November 30th, Chairman Haney directed Ian Murray, the LD-25 First Vice Chairman, to inform the district that an investigation needed to occur and that there was a possibility that the election would be overturned and have to be redone.

Chairman Haney identified the following individuals as the investigation committee for this issue:

The investigative committee had two goals. The first was to determine if there were substantial irregularities to invalidate the election of November 29th, and the second goal was to determine if there was substantial evidence of fraud which should be turned over to law enforcement for further investigation.

The Committee met on December 5th, December 6th and December 7th at the Arizona Republic Party State Headquarters. The Committee decided to examine every Interest Form from the District and every Proxy Form to determine if irregularities existed. The committee was divided into two teams. The first team examined the interest forms and the precinct nomination form to determine how the individual was placed on the State Committeeman Ballot. The second team examined each submitted interest form and each proxy, and compared the signatures on the forms with the signatures on file with the County Recorder's office.

When the team comparing signatures at the County Recorder's office found a questionable signature, they requested a certified copy of the signature for comparison with the signature on the proxy or the interest form. The certified copies were returned to Arizona Republican Headquarters and the entire committee compared the certified copy of the signature to the signature on either the proxy form or the interest form.

Unfortunately, a number of signatures on the Interest Forms and the Proxy Forms did not match the signatures on record from the County Recorder's office. This resulted in a finding from the Committee that enough irregularities existed to invalidate the election. In addition, the Committee found enough suspicious activity to involve law enforcement. The County Attorney was contacted, and per his recommendation, the evidence found by the Committee will be turned over to the appropriate law enforcement agency for further investigation.

With the election being invalidated, the existing LD-25 Board will retain their positions until the new election. Unfortunately, the LD-25 Chairman Haydee Dawson is extremely ill and will be unable to act as Chairman. Ian Murray, the First Vice Chairman, will be the acting Chairman until a new election is held. The new election must be scheduled prior to the County Meeting and will be scheduled in a timely manner. Further communication about the new election will be sent out shortly.